THE CHURCH MILITANT
Ephesians 5:11-"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them". This Christian News Blog maintains a one stop resource of current news and reports of its own related to church, moral, spiritual, and related political issues, plus articles, and postings from other online discernment ministries, and media which share the aims to obey the biblical commands to shed light on and refute error, heresy, apostasy, cults, and spiritual abuse.

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:

DENVER — The Colorado Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court ruling requiring a Christian baker to make cakes for “gay weddings” despite his biblical beliefs not to be a partaker in other men’s sins. (1 Timothy 5:22)

“We conclude that the act of same-sex marriage is closely correlated to Craig’s and Mullins’ sexual orientation, and therefore, [the initial arbiter] did not err when he found that Masterpiece’s refusal to create a wedding cake for Craig and Mullins was ‘because of’ their sexual orientation,’” the three-judge panel, consisting of Judges Daniel Taubman, Judge Michael Berger and Judge Alan Loeb, ruled on Thursday.

As previously reported, Dave Mullin and Charlie Craig visited Masterpiece Cake Shop in Lakewood, Colorado in July 2012 to look for options for their upcoming same-sex ceremony celebration. As Colorado has a constitutional amendment enshrining marriage as being between a man and a woman, the men planned to travel to Massachusetts and then return to Colorado for a separate celebration.

However, after their arrival at the cake shop, Mullin and Craig were advised by owner Jack Phillips that he does not make cakes for same-sex ceremonies.

“My first comment was, ‘We’re getting married,’ and he just shut that down immediately,” Craig, 31, stated.

Phillips told Christian News Network that he does not make cakes for such occasions because of his Christian convictions.

“I’m a follower of Jesus Christ, and I believe that the relationship is not something that He looks favorably on,” the master pastry chef stated. “If Jesus was a carpenter, He wouldn’t make a bed for this union.”

Phillips, who attends a Baptist church, explained that when he informed Mullin and Craig that his bakery does not make cakes for same-sex “weddings,” the men immediately left. He stated that one of them made a comment on his way out the door that the bakery was a “homophobic cake shop.”

Mullin, 28, indicated to Denver Westward that is indeed what took place.

“It was the most awkward, surreal, very brief encounter,” he stated. “We got up to leave, and to be totally honest, I said, ‘(expletive) and your homophobic cake shop.’ And I may or may not have flipped him off.”

Phillips, who also declines to make Halloween cookies at his bakery, had told the men that he would be happy to make them any other type of baked goods outside of having to facilitate the ceremony, which he believed was a form of personal participation.

However, Mullin and Craig then filed charges with the Colorado Human Rights Commission with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). In December 2013, Judge Robert Spencer sided with the ACLU, contending that Phillips should have made the cake because he was not told that there would be any words or symbols written on it.

“Phillips was not asked to apply any message or symbol to the cake, or to construct the cake in any fashion that could be reasonably understood as advocating same-sex marriage,” he wrote. “The act of preparing a cake is simply not ‘speech’ warranting First Amendment protection.”

In May of last year, the Colorado Civil Rights Commission upheld Spencer’s ruling, stating that Phillips violated the state’s civil rights law. The Commission then ordered that Phillips educate his staff in alignment with the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, to implement new policies in light of the ruling, and to file quarterly compliance reports for two years. The reports must note each product that was declined to be created and the reason why to prove that Phillips’ religious beliefs no longer influence his business decisions.

But attorneys for Phillips filed an appeal with the Colorado Court of Appeals, and on Thursday, the court upheld the lower court’s rulings, essentially opining that while Phillips may retain a personal belief in his mind, he is not permitted to live out his Christian convictions in the workplace due to the state’s Anti-Discrimination Act. The court asserted that providing the cake for the ceremony does not equal an endorsement of same-sex nuptials.

“Nothing in the record supports the conclusion that a reasonable observer would interpret Masterpiece’s providing a wedding cake for a same-sex couple as an endorsement of same-sex marriage rather than a reflection of its desire to conduct business in accordance with Colorado’s public accommodations law,” the court ruled.

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which is representing Phillips in court, says that it is considering the legal options at this time.

“Americans are guaranteed the freedom to live and work consistent with their faith. Government has a duty to protect people’s freedom to follow their beliefs personally and professionally rather than force them to adopt the government’s views,” said Senior Legal Counsel Jeremy Tedesco in a statement. “Jack simply exercised the long-cherished American freedom to decline to use his artistic talents to promote a message with which he disagrees. The court is wrong to deny Jack his fundamental freedoms.”

Alex Jones Calls Out Spokane, Washington Police Chief

Published on Aug 14, 2015

Alex Jones calls out Spokane Washington Police Chief after his most recent round of anti-freedom interviews and how he views constitutionalists as being on the same level as ISIS.

VIDEO:

Knezovich Town Hall to focus on domestic terrorism, need for military hardware

Published on Jun 29, 2015

Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich is hosting a town hall meeting Monday night to share new information about terrorism, gangs and white supremacy groups, and will be facing some in the crowd calling for his resignation.

On the front cover of Washington State’s August 2015 “Inlander” magazine, Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich is shown hands on hips standing on top of the “Don’t Tread On Me” (Gadsden) flag. The title of the article is “Daring To Tread.”

The sheriff and at least one of his deputies have verbalized opinions that “constitutionalists” are threats to the sheriff’s office, the federal government, and to the country itself. Sheriff Knezovich even went so far as to compare “constitutionalists” with the Sunni Muslim terror group ISIS. The deputy indicated that the presence of armed "constitutionalists" in the county was the principal reason why the sheriff's office was amassing military equipment. When asked to name names as to who he was referring to, Spokane County’s highest-ranking law enforcement officer (Sheriff Knezovich) named Washington State Representative Matt Shea and radio talk show host Alex Jones (who resides in Texas, not Spokane County, Washington).

Writing for InfoWars.com, Mikael Thalen reports, “The Inlander piece highlights the sheriff’s ongoing campaign against local conservative groups who he feels are pushing dangerous rhetoric. When asked to specifically name those responsible, Knezovich pointed to both Rep. Shea and ‘all those folks that created the video about the Deputy.’

“Knezovich’s statement refers to exclusive footage released by Infowars last December which highlighted unsettling comments made by a Spokane sheriff’s deputy as he stood next to the department’s mine-resistant ambush protected military vehicle (MRAP). After a local resident approached and questioned law enforcement’s need for military hardware, the deputy immediately used ‘constitutionalists’ with ‘firearms’ as justification.

“‘I mean, we’ve got a lot of constitutionalists and a lot of people that stockpile weapons, lots of ammunition,’ the deputy said. ‘They have weapons here locally.’”

The report continued saying, “‘Instead of apologizing for the comments made by his deputy, Sheriff Knezovich essentially blamed Infowars for daring to report on the issue, claiming that the quote was taken out of context while failing to explain how such a brazen statement could be taken for anything other than its face value,’ noted Infowars’ Paul Joseph Watson at the time.

“Speaking with Infowars, Rep. Shea expressed outrage at Knezovich’s latest comments and also the article’s analysis on a local pastor.

“‘I fought Islamic terrorists on the ground in Iraq face-to-face,’ Shea said. ‘I lost a man--who was a Christian and who would have fit the Sheriff’s definition of a constitutionalist--under my command fighting Islamic terrorists.’

“‘It is outrageous to compare constitutionalists and Christians to ISIS! We believe in freedom. We believe in liberty. A value set that is rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition. ISIS is anathema to those things. I call on every Christian and constitutionalist in this country to demand an apology from this Sheriff for his outrageous comments and demand his immediate resignation.’”

Readers should know that Representative Shea served in the U.S. Army with two combat tours overseas, including eight months in Bosnia as a platoon leader, and eleven months in Baghdad, Iraq, as a company commander. Matt was awarded a Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal, and Combat Infantryman’s Badge along with other awards and commendations. Matt was also distinguished as being the top rated Captain in his Battalion. This is the man that Sheriff Knezovich says is as dangerous as ISIS.

Unfortunately, Sheriff Knezovich is illustrative of the propaganda that local and State police agencies and sheriff’s offices are receiving from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Working in tandem with the ultra-left wing hate group, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), DHS constantly feeds anti-conservative, anti-constitutionalist, anti-patriot, anti-Christian, anti-veterans propaganda to local police agencies via its numerous “fusion centers” across the country.

Add a historical and constitutional ignorance with a personal lust for power, and sheriffs and police chiefs across the country readily buy into the DHS propaganda. The result is men like Sheriff Knezovich and his deputy.

I dare say that a good many of the readers of this column reside in counties in which the sheriff feels exactly as does Sheriff Knezovich. Thank God, not all of our sheriffs and city police chiefs fall into this category. Some of them have actually read the Constitution and Bill of Rights and are devoted to protecting the liberties of the citizens in their cities and counties. But far too many of them are of the ilk of Sheriff Knezovich.

But once again, I must ask, where are the pastors? Where are the pastors in Spokane County, Washington?

Spokane County, Washington, is filled with Christians and churches. It is a God-fearing community. Why are the pastors of Spokane County not rallying their churches against the obviously anti-Christian, anti-patriot, anti-constitutionalist bigotry of this sheriff’s office? Every pastor in the county and every church congregation in the county should be demanding with protests, phone calls, emails, letters, etc., that this sheriff resign. This should continue every day in perpetuity until he does so.

I’ll say it plainly: the only reason we have tyrannically-inclined men like Sheriff Knezovich in public office is because our pastors don’t have the man-stuff to stand up against it. We have corrupt, unconstitutional civil magistrates because America’s pastors willingly, sheepishly, cowardly go along with it. Behind every Big Government toady like Sheriff Knezovich are scores and hundreds of pastors who are aiding and abetting him.

Think what could happen in Spokane County, Washington--and in counties across America--if our pastors would courageously lead their congregations to stand against this kind of corruption and abuse of power. Just think!

Did our plucky pastors in Colonial America lead the Christian people of America to cast off the tyranny of the British Crown only to have their spiritual descendants in the pulpits willfully sit back as indifferent bystanders and allow the sons of the patriots to be led into servitude like sheep? Jonas Clark, Joab Houghton, John Peter Muhlenberg, James Caldwell, and the rest of the Black Regiment must be turning over in their graves.

In the meantime, Christians, constitutionalists, and gun owners in Spokane County, Washington, have a sheriff’s office that considers them to be potential terrorists in the similitude of ISIS.

Once again, we see how DHS training and indoctrination is teaching our local police agencies to regard freedom-loving Americans as the enemy. Now you know: all of those armored vehicles and military hardware owned by your local police department or sheriff’s office are purchased for the purpose of being used against us “constitutionalists.” Be sure to watch the video report contained in the Infowars.com news story linked earlier in this column. And then please remember what the Spokane County sheriff’s deputy said the next time you see one of those big armored vehicles rolling down the streets of your community.

How does it happen that local sheriff’s deputies can relate people who support the Constitution of the United States to Islamic terrorists? And tell me again what it was that those deputies and police officers swore an oath to, if it wasn’t the Constitution of the United States?

Then again, I remember sitting across the lunch table recently with an elected county official and asking him to tell me what the oath was he took when he was first elected to public office, and he candidly (and sheepishly) told me he couldn’t remember. It is obvious that Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich doesn’t remember, either.

P.S. In light of the existence of constitutionally-illiterate and tyrannically-predisposed sheriffs like Ozzie Knezovich, let me remind readers that we have just recently produced an hour-long DVD wherein my son, Attorney Tim Baldwin, lectures (complete with instructional slides) on the topic: “Police Contact: How To Respond.”

Tim explains your rights and the law regarding police contacts in a variety of circumstances, such as traffic stops, etc. He explains the rights and protections you have under the Constitution. He presents a constitutional, legal analysis of what you should and shouldn’t do when brought into contact with a police officer, sheriff’s deputy, or highway patrolman.

Tim is a former felony prosecutor and is now a criminal defense attorney. He has seen both sides of the criminal justice system and is imminently qualified to discuss this subject. He knows that for an attorney to best protect his or her clients, they need to know how to protect themselves before and during the investigative and arrest procedures.

As his dad, I can tell you he taught me a lot! Believe me, being informed of your legal rights and responsibilities under the law is very empowering, which is exactly what America’s Founding Fathers intended. True power, true authority, rests with the People under God and the Constitution. Police officers are SERVANTS of the People and are as obligated to obey the Constitution as are each of us. Knowing these rights and protections will give you much CONFIDENCE when you are pulled over by a police officer.

Let me hasten to say that I am ALWAYS respectful to a police officer. And so should we always be. We must respect his position. But mostly, we must respect the law that he, the police officer, is sworn to uphold. But how can we respect the law if we don’t even know and understand the law? How can officers improve their law-enforcement practice unless citizens know when police are following the law? How is the legal system benefited if police can trample citizens’ constitutional rights with the consent of the people? Tim’s DVD will help tremendously in this regard.

In light of the climate that we all live in today, I cannot emphasize enough how important it is that we become familiar with our constitutional rights and responsibilities. If enough of the American people would learn these constitutional principles, they could stem the growing tide of unconstitutional conduct by our public servants, including, and especially, by those in law enforcement.

Here is where you can order the DVD, “Police Contact: How To Respond,” by Attorney Tim Baldwin.

New York, NY — NYPD police have recently been showing how compassionate they are by taking photos of homeless people and publicly shaming them online. The activity is not only condoned by the department, but it is being sanctioned and encouraged by high-ranking officials at the NYPD.

The ironically named “Sergeants Benevolent Association” sent out an email this week, ordering both police officers and their families to take photos of homeless people in embarrassing situations so they can later be posted publicly.

“As you travel about the city of New York, please utilize your smartphones to photograph the homeless lying in our streets, aggressive panhandlers, people urinating in public or engaging in open-air drug activity, and quality-of-life offenses of every type,” SBA President Ed Mullins said in the email.

The letter went on to criticize the fact that police are being filmed more and more recently and suggested that it is now time to turn the cameras back on the public.

“Shouldn’t accountability go both ways? We, the ‘Good Guys,’ are sworn to protect our citizens. Shouldn’t our public officials be held to the same standard?” the email read.

According to the email, the photos are intended to motivate politicians to “do something about the homeless problem,” but what they actually want to be done is unclear. Do they want laws that outright ban homelessness? Or just more power, in general, to use against the population?

The email cites examples of public urination and drug use, but these are activities that police are already arresting people for, so it seems that they may be pushing for more strict and specific laws against homelessness.

The letter railed against “failed policies, more homeless encampments on city streets, a 10 percent increase in homicides, and the diminishing of our hard-earned and well-deserved public perception of the safest large city in America…. Attempts to pass self-promoting agendas are not the answer to building relationships with communities who don’t trust the police. It only serves to lie to people who are trying to live life and share in a piece of the American Dream.”

One of the “failed policies” that Mullins was critical of was the recently proposed “Right to Know Act,” which would require cops to get permission from a suspect before conducting a search without probable cause for arrest.

Sadly, this sick NYPD homework assignment was even praised by the NYPost, who also seemed to have no compassion for the homeless population of New York City.

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INFOWARS: THE FOURTH ESTATE, NOT STAR WARS

Adolf Hitler

ACTS 5:29

“Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.”

GEORGE WASHINGTON:

If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.

THOMAS JEFFERSON 1800

"I Have Sworn Upon the Altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."

GOD ABOVE GOVERNMENT

Bible Obedience; Civil Disobedience

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